After a pleasant and unseasonably warm Christmas Day across Michiana, and a soggy weekend, Monday brings treacherous conditions to Michiana just in time for the morning commute. As a strong low pressure system that brought severe weather to the southern plains and Texas on Saturday night moves north and east, it approaches our area, packing high winds and more precipitation.

Timing (Fig. 1 - Fig. 4)

7:00 AM EST: An isolated rain/snow mix is possible as shown in Fig. 1. These showers will move in from the south and shift northward, becoming more widespread throughout the morning.

9:00 AM EST: As shown in Fig. 2, by this time of the morning, a wintry mix spreads across the area with a slight chance for periods of freezing rain by that time. This seems to be the time when most areas will start to see slick roadways as ice will start to accumulate.

12:00 PM EST: By noon, Fig. 3 shows that we're still dealing with a wintry mix in places while we try to see a change over to just rain in other parts of Michiana.

5:00 PM EST: By the drive home, Fig. 4 shows that we're still not out of the woods just yet. We'll finally see the changeover to just rain starting south and spreading north, picking up at least another 1" of rainfall, which could mean possible flooding, especially in areas south of US-30. Rain continues into Monday night before it tapers off.

Impacts: What You Can Expect & How to Prepare

The combination of freezing rain/wintry precipitation and high winds gusting up to 40mph at times, downed trees and power outages are possible. Plus, slick and icy road conditions and these high winds will make travel difficult. If you have to travel anywhere Monday, leave extra time for delays and a slower commute.

The best chance for ice accumulation is mainly in areas north of US-30. South of US-30, even though a wintry mix is possible, it's more likely there's a chance for flooding as rain changes over by the afternoon.